Sandwell Council leader slams Tory opposite for telling Government it should intervene

The Labour politician was responding after a letter was sent by Conservative acting group leader Archer Williams, welcoming the Government’s proposals to intervene in the daily running of the council.

The letter, sent to the Department for Levelling up, Housing and Communities, was part of a series of representations sent by both the council and other interested parties to comment on the Government’s proposed intentions.

The deadline for comments was February 11. A final decision will be made by Whitehall whether to approve intervention.

In the letter published on Twitter, Councillor Williams said the Sandwell Conservatives “wholeheartedly” believed the council is “failing to provide basic services” to its local people, and said they have “exhausted all avenues” to hold the council to account.

But Councillor Carmichael said: “Councillor Williams, as my opposite I would have thought it more professional to have had a discussion – we could have fact checked together as it can be embarrassing when you get it so wrong.”

Councillor Williams hit back and said what was embarrassing was the council being left in a “deplorable state”.

He tweeted: "Thank you for your response Kerrie. My duty is to the Sandwell residents, even if this means I get attacked in an unprofessional manner from the leader of a council that was recently deemed ineffective by an official report.

"I think what’s embarrassing is that Sandwell council has been told that they need an outsider to sort out their house which has been left in a deplorable state.

"I strongly believe that the good people of Sandwell do agree with the points mentioned in our letter. As a group, we have been elected since May 2021 and what we’ve seen has reflected the findings of the Grant Thornton report."

"I understand it cannot be easy for you to have been elected as the leader of a council with so many problems."

Labour-run Sandwell council has had six different leaders in six years, as well as three chief executives, and has seen a number of misconduct allegations made against councillors.

It comes as Kemi Badenoch, minister for equalities and levelling up communities, said Sandwell Council had "struggled for many years" to resolve a number of issues which had led to “a breakdown in trust, respect and confidence”.

However, in a written statement to the House of Commons, she said there had been "green shoots" of recovery under Councillor Carmichael's leadership.